Merchandiser assembly

ABSTRACT

A merchandiser assembly includes a base and a plurality of support hoops having lower ends, wherein the lower ends may be secured adjacent to the base. The hoops may define a gap formed between the hoops for containing rolled articles from movement in a transverse direction. The assembly further comprises a rest rail attached across the gap so as to contain rolled articles from movement in a forward direction perpendicular to said transverse direction. The rest rail may include a rest surface and be adjustable between a tall and short orientation, wherein when the rest rail is in the tall orientation, the rest surface is at a greater distance from the base than when the rest rail is in the short orientation, so as to allow the rail to be adjusted to support rolled articles of multiple lengths.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/601,096 filed Aug. 12, 2004, the entire disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an assembly for transporting and displayingrugs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the rug industry, manufacturers design and produce rugs for shipmentto distributors and/or vendors. Once produced, it is desired that therugs be packaged in a manner to allow easy loading/unloading of the rugsonto/off of a truck. In the past, manufacturers would roll the rugs andplace them lengthwise on pallets. The problem with this approach wasthat pallet loaders or forklifts had difficulty accessing the pallet andloading the pallet full of rugs on the truck. To solve this problem,manufacturers began using open top merchandiser assemblies so that rugscould be stood on end (e.g. vertically) within the cage of the assembly.However, these merchandiser assemblies proved to be weak and oftenfailed due to the weight of the heavy stacked rugs. In addition, asvendors desired to display rugs in the same assemblies in which the rugswere shipped, stronger, more functional assemblies were needed.

As such, there is a need for durable merchandiser assemblies configuredto secure a number of rugs during transport and display.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is intended to address and obviateproblems and shortcomings and otherwise improve previous merchandiserassemblies.

A merchandiser assembly comprising a base, a plurality of support hoopshaving lower ends, wherein the lower ends are secured adjacent to thebase wherein the hoops define a gap formed therebetween for containingrolled articles from movement in a transverse direction, and a rest railattached across the gap so as to contain rolled articles from movementin a forward direction perpendicular to the transverse directioncomprising a rest surface and being adjustable between a tall and shortorientation, wherein when the rest rail is in the tall orientation, therest surface is at a greater distance from the base than when the restrail is in the short orientation, so as to allow the rail to be adjustedto support rolled articles of multiple lengths.

To achieve the foregoing, a merchandiser assembly may comprise a base, aplurality of support hoops having lower ends, wherein said lower endsmay be secured to the base. The assembly may further comprise a restrail having a rest surface and a tall and short orientation, whereinwhen in said tall orientation, said rest surface is at a greaterdistance from said base than when said rest rail is in said shortorientation.

To still further achieve the foregoing, a merchandiser assembly maycomprise a base, a plurality of support hoops having lower ends, a basearm mount secured to the base, the base arm mount comprising a pluralityof apertures configured to removeably receive the lower ends of thesupport hoops, and a rest rail comprising a plurality of orientations,wherein the rest rail is configured to be removeably secured to at leastone of the support hoops.

To still further achieve the foregoing, a merchandiser assembly maycomprise a base, a plurality of support hoops having lower ends, aplurality of base arm mounts secured to the base, the base arm mountscomprising a plurality of apertures configured to removeably receive thelower ends of the support hoops, and a rest rail comprising a restsurface and a tall and short orientation, and wherein when the rest railis in the tall orientation, the rest surface is at a greater distancefrom the base than when the rest rail is in the short orientation.

Still other embodiments, combinations and advantages will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the following descriptionswherein there are shown and described alternative illustrativeembodiments of this invention for illustration purposes. As will berealized, the invention is capable of other different aspects, objectsand embodiments all without departing from the scope of the invention.Accordingly, the drawings and description should be regarded asillustrative and illustrative in nature only and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It is believed that the present invention will be better understood fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a merchandiser assembly inaccordance with one illustrative embodiment of the present invention;and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an assembled merchandiser assembly ofFIG. 1 with a rug secured therein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawing figures in detail, wherein like numeralsindicate the same elements throughout the drawing figures, FIG. 1illustrates an exploded view of the merchandiser assembly 10 accordingto one illustrative embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated,the merchandiser assembly 10 may comprise a base 12, a pair of base armmounts 20, a plurality of support hoops 30, a rest rail 40 and a rearrail 50. As discussed later herein, and illustrated in FIG. 2, these andother components can be fitted together to form a merchandiser assemblyfor transporting and displaying rugs 17 and other articles of varioussizes in a convenient and space efficient manner. Moreover, while thepresent invention is described as being used with transporting anddisplaying rugs, other products may be used in association with thepresent invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, base 12 of merchandiser assembly 10 isillustrated as comprising a pallet type design. More particularly,pallet 12 may comprise a plurality of spaced slats 14 secured to a frame16. The design allows vertically displayed rugs to rest in between thespaced slats 14. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, corner 18 ofrolled rug 17 may rest between slats 14 a and 14 b. This design mayassist in keeping the rolled rugs 17 in a vertical orientation. Palletdesign is also useful as it provides channels 19 for accepting forks ofa forklift and/or a pallet loader for transporting the merchandiserassembly about a display surface or from/to a transport truck. Of courseany base may be used such as, for example, a base comprising a solidsheet in place of the slats with a plurality of holes cut therein so asto accept and secure a rolled rug.

In order to secure support hoops 30 to base 12, a pair of base armmounts 20 may be used. As illustrated, each base arm mount 20 maycomprise a generally U-shaped configuration with a number of supporthoop apertures 22 therein. In addition, base arm mount 20 may comprise amount lip 24 and upper and lower prop lips 26 a and 26 b. Although apair of base arm mounts 20 are illustrated, any number of base armmounts 20 may be used.

Base arm mount 20 may be secured to the base 12 and be configured totelescopingly receive the support hoops 30. More particularly, mount lip24 of base arm mount 20 may be positioned located on slat 14 of base 12and then be secured thereto by drilling fasteners 27 through holes 28located in the mount lip 24 and into slat 14 of base 12. As illustratedin FIG. 2, base arm mounts 20 may be secured to base 12 at the outeredge thereof. However, it is contemplated that base arm mounts 20 may besecured at any location on the base. In addition, it should beunderstood that base arm mounts 20 may comprise any apparatus orassembly configured to receive and maintain support hoops 30 in adesired position.

As illustrated, merchandiser assembly may also comprise a plurality ofsupport hoops 30. Between these support hoops 30, a gap may be is formedso that rugs may be inserted and maintained during transport and/ordisplay. More particularly, rugs or other rolled articles positionedwithin the gaps are contained from movement in a transverse direction.While rugs may be able to move side to side to the adjacent hoop, suchrugs are contained sufficiently to prevent the rugs from falling to theground side to side.

Each support hoop 30 may comprise two support arms 32 and a divider arm34 to form a generally U-shaped configuration or hoop. Support anddivider arm 32 and 34 may comprise individual components telescopinglyfitted together, or in another embodiment, may comprise a single piece,such as a single post bent into a U-shaped configuration. Of course, inanother embodiment “support hoops” may actually comprise a wall or othersuch divider for rugs or articles capable of containing the same.Accordingly, the use of the term “hoop” is not intended to connote astructural limitation. Upper and lower ends 32 a and 32 b of supportarms 32 or hoop 30 may comprise openings 36 and 38 for accepting one ormore fasteners discussed below.

As shown, merchandiser assembly 10 comprises four support hoops 30.However, any number of support hoops 30 may be secured to any desiredsize base. As previously discussed, support hoops may be telescopinglyreceived in base arm mounts 20 at support hoop apertures 20. Moreparticularly, lower end 32 b and support hoop 30 may be received inupper and lower apertures 22 a and 22 b of base arms mounts 20 and besecured thereto with, for example, a fastener, or other lockingarrangement. In one embodiment, lower end 32 a of support hoop 30 mayrest on base 12 (e.g. FIGS. 1-2). In another embodiment, lower end 32 aof support hoop 30 may rest on support arm mount 20. In addition, asidefrom resting on base 12, lower ends 32 b of support hoops 30 aresimilarly stabilized against upper and lower prop lips 26 a and 26 b ofbase arm mounts 20. Because of this design, the support hoops 30 of thepresent invention can support heavy loads, such as rolled rugs betweenrespective support hoops 30.

Merchandiser assembly 10 may also comprise a rest rail 40 configured tobe removably secured to one or more support arms 30. More particularly,rest rail 40 may comprise upper and lower rail apertures 42 and 44 eachconfigured to be secured to support arm openings 36, depending on thedesired orientation of the rest rail 40. The rest rail 40 may beconfigured to provide a surface for one or more vertically rolled rugs17 to or other articles rest against (see FIG. 2). In addition, restrail 40 may be removable so as to load and unload merchandiser assembly.Of course, a number of components or combinations of components can beused to provide a surface to prevent or inhibit movement of the rugs ina forward direction. Accordingly, use of the term “rail” should not belimited in structure as other such components (e.g., divider, barrier,etc.) can be used.

In use, rest rail 40 may be attached across one or more gap so as tocontain rolled articles from movement in a forward directionperpendicular to the transverse direction discussed above. Suchcontainment of forward movement can mean prevention of the rugs fromfalling forward or backward (depending on the location of the rest rail)to the ground. Limited movement perpendicular to the transverseside-to-side direction discussed above may be appropriate when themerchandiser is not full.

It is a feature of the present invention that rolled rugs 17 of varioussizes may be accommodated by switching the rest rail from tall and shortorientations. By way of example, if the rolled rug 17 of FIG. 2 was a8×11 rug (e.g. 8 foot wide, and therefore, 8 foot tall in themerchandiser assembly 10), rest rail 40 may be configured in its tallorientation as shown (e.g. rail apertures 44 aligned and secured tosupport arm openings 36) so that a taller rolled rug does not fall outof merchandiser assembly because rest surface 46 is higher. However, ifa 6×9 rug were inserted into the merchandiser assembly 10 of FIG. 2(e.g., an assembly with the rest rail in the tall orientation), the rugmay fall under rest rail 40 and onto a display surface. Accordingly,rest rail 40 may be switched to its lower orientation (e.g. railapertures 42 aligned and secured to support arm openings 36) to providea support surface 46 for smaller sized rugs. It is contemplated that iflarger rugs are to be transported or displayed, the rest rail 40 will besecured in its tall orientation (e.g., FIG. 2).

It should be understood that although rest rail 40 is illustrated asbeing fixedly secured to two support hoops 30 (e.g. rail apertures 42 or44 aligned and secured to support arm openings 36), a number ofalternative embodiments are contemplated. For example, rest rail 40 maybe configured to be telescopingly received by support hoops 30 such asat the outermost support hoops, between adjacent support hoops orintermittent support hoops. Such may be accomplished by providingapertures within support hoops and securing rest raid therein throughsnap locks or other convention locking devices. In addition, althoughrest rail 40 is illustrated as being located toward the outer end ofsupport hoops 30, any type of rest rail may be located at any positionalong support hoops and/or base.

Rear rail 50 is illustrated and configured to prevent one or more rolledrugs 17 from falling out of the rear of the merchandiser assembly 10. Asillustrated, rear rail 50 may be configured to be fixedly secured to oneor more support hoops 30 such as at openings 36. This embodiment may bedesired when rugs are being transported and increased stability of themerchandiser assembly 10 is preferred. However, in another embodiment,rear rail may be selectively removable from one or all support hoops 30.Such embodiment may be desired when the merchandiser assembly 10 is usedto display rugs. More particularly, if a customer desires to purchase arug displayed in the merchandiser assembly 10, a vendor can simplyremove rear rail 50 and remove the rolled rugs from the adjacent supporthoops (assuming the desired rug is not first in line). Once removed,vendor can reattach rear rail 50. In such embodiment, the rear rail 50may be secured to one or more support hoops through a snap and lockassembly, or other locking arrangement. The rear rail 50 may beconfigured to be removable from the all of the support hoops 30 orsimply between adjacent support hoops, such as 30 a and 30 b (see FIG.2). Such may be accomplished by, for example, providing hinges betweenadjacent rear rail pieces and corresponding to the support hoops 30. Ofcourse, as discussed, it is contemplated that rest rail 40 may similarlybe removed to load and unload rugs in the merchandise assembly.

One of the aspects of the present invention, as previously discussed, isthat the merchandiser assembly can be used to transport and displayrolled rugs. It is contemplated that the merchandiser assembly 10 can bemodular so that each can be individually broken down and shipped to avendor and/or manufacturer. For example, if a manufacturer has rugs tobe shipped, the broken down merchandiser assembly can be delivered tothe manufacturer in a packaged container. The manufacturer may then useits own base (e.g., a pallet where applicable or desired) and constructthe merchandiser assembly as discussed above. The manufacturer may thenload the merchandiser assembly full of rugs for transport to a vendor.Because the merchandiser assembly is designed to adapt to a conventionalpallet, the constructed assembly with pallet base may be loaded onto atruck and shipped to a vendor. Once received by the vendor, the vendormay unload the merchandiser assembly from the truck and place theassembly directly in a display room, thus eliminating the step ofunloading each individual rug and transferring the same to a displayrack. In addition, if a vendor has rugs from a manufacturer that doesnot utilize the merchandiser assembly, the same broken down packagedmerchandiser assembly can be shipped to the vendor, assembled and usesolely to display any number of rugs. As such, the present inventionprovides a stable assembly for transporting and displaying rugs.

The foregoing description of the various embodiments of the inventionhas been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. Itis not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to theprecise form disclosed. Many alternatives, modifications and variationswill be apparent to those skilled in the art of the above teaching. Forexample, the merchandiser assemblies in accordance with the presentinvention may display rugs of varying sizes and shapes in a variety ofdifferent arrangements and can include bases, arm base mounts andsupport hoops organized in a variety of arrangements. Accordingly, whilesome of the alternative embodiments of the merchandiser assembly havebeen discussed specifically, other embodiments will be apparent orrelatively easily developed by those of ordinary skill in the art.Accordingly, this invention is intended to embrace all alternatives,modifications and variations that have been discussed herein.

1. A merchandiser assembly comprising: a base; a plurality of supporthoops having lower ends, wherein said lower ends are secured adjacent tosaid base and wherein said hoops define a gap formed therebetween forcontaining rolled articles from movement in a transverse direction; anda rest rail attached across said gap so as to contain rolled articlesfrom movement in a forward direction perpendicular to said transversedirection, said rest rail comprising a rest surface and being adjustablebetween a tall and short orientation, wherein when said rest rail is insaid tall orientation, said rest surface is at a greater distance fromsaid base than when said rest rail is in said short orientation, so asto allow the rail to be adjusted to support rolled articles of multiplelengths.
 2. The merchandiser assembly of claim 1, wherein said rest railis removeably secured to at least one of said support hoops.
 3. Themerchandiser assembly of claim 1, wherein said lower ends of saidsupport hoops are removeably secured to said base.
 4. The merchandiserassembly of claim 1, wherein said merchandiser assembly furthercomprises a base arm mount having a plurality of apertures configured toremoveably receive said lower ends of said support hoops.
 5. Themerchandiser assembly of claim 4, wherein said lower ends of saidplurality of said support hoops are removeably secured to said base armmount.
 6. The merchandiser assembly of claim 4, wherein said base armmount further comprises a mount lip configured to secure said base armmount to said base.
 7. The merchandiser assembly of claim 1, whereinsaid base is a pallet.
 8. The merchandiser assembly of claim 1 furthercomprising a rear rail.
 9. The merchandiser assembly of claim 1, whereinsaid base comprises channels configured to receive forks of a forklift.10. The merchandiser assembly of claim 1, wherein said articles arerugs.
 11. A merchandiser assembly comprising: a base; a plurality ofsupport hoops having lower ends; a base arm mount secured adjacent tosaid base, said base arm mount comprising a plurality of aperturesconfigured to removeably receive said lower ends of said support hoops;and a rest rail having a plurality of orientations, wherein said restrail is configured to be removeably secured to at least one of saidsupport hoops.
 12. The merchandiser assembly of claim 11, wherein saidrest rail further comprises a rest surface, and wherein when said restrail is in said tall orientation, said rest surface is at a greaterdistance from said base than when said rest rail is in said shortorientation.
 13. The merchandiser assembly of claim 11, wherein saidlower ends of said plurality of said support hoops are removeablysecured to said base arm mount.
 14. The merchandiser assembly of claim11, wherein said base arm mount is further comprised of mount lipsconfigured to secure said base arm mount to said base.
 15. Amerchandiser assembly comprising: a base; a plurality of support hoopshaving lower ends; a plurality of base arm mounts secured adjacent tosaid base, said base arm mounts comprising a plurality of aperturesconfigured to removeably receive said lower ends of said support hoops;and a rest rail comprising a rest surface and a tall and shortorientation, and wherein when said rest rail is in said tallorientation, said rest surface is at a greater distance from said basethan when said rest rail is in said short orientation.
 16. Themerchandiser assembly of claim 15, wherein said rest rail is removeablysecured to at least one of said support hoops.